In the United States, August is National Breastfeeding Month. World Breastfeeding Week takes place the first week of August. We are in the middle of Black Breastfeeding Week now. It seems only fitting that the August Brilliant Activities for Birth Educators post describes a fun and engaging breastfeeding/chestfeeding class activity.

August 25 through 31, 2019 is the seventh annual Black Breastfeeding Week, which is also the last week of Breastfeeding Awareness Month in the United States. This year’s Black Breastfeeding Week theme is "The World is Yours: Imagine. Innovate. Liberate!"Childbirth educators have an opportunity to help raise awareness, offer support and provide resources to the Black families in their communities as everyone works toward the goal of improving outcomes for Black families and their babies this week and every week all year long. Here are seven things educators can be doing right now to support Black families to meet their breastfeeding/chestfeeding goals.

Since our mission as Lamaze educators is to advance safe and healthy pregnancy, birth and early parenting, sharing websites on free and voluntary evidence-based home visiting is a great tool for your classes. According to the National Home Visiting Resource Center, evidence-based home visiting programs operate in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 5 U.S territories.

As childbirth educators, we know that we are likely to have a diverse group of families in our classes. The materials we use to teach with and the images on our websites and in our marketing materials should be just as varied as the people who take our classes. Today is another post in the occasional series on Welcoming all Families, Connecting the Dots talk about sources for images that represent people of size. Pam Vireday has written before here and here on this blog about welcoming people of size in our classrooms and today’s post is a nice compliment to that.

World Breastfeeding Week continues through tomorrow, August 7th and National Breastfeeding Month in the USA is all of August. The last week of August is Black Breastfeeding Week (more on that later this month). Today, Connecting the Dots shares some great websites and resources that you may not be already aware of that are really top-notch and appropriate for sharing with the families that you work with.

World Breastfeeding Week is August 1st through 7th where both individuals and organizations are focused on increasing awareness of the benefits of breast/chestfeeding to baby/parent dyads. There are many public health benefits when breast/chestfeeding is going well that extend beyond the new family into the community and beyond.

Lamaze International acknowledges and celebrates the important role that childbirth educators play in helping the families in their classes be prepared to feed their babies. Research indicates time and time again that partners and support people play a critical role in helping lactating parents to successfully feed their babies. When a nursing dyad has the support of the partner, they are more likely to overcome hurdles and succeed in meeting their breast/chestfeeding goals.

Sharon Bowman, Training from the Back of the Room, is one of the great master teachers of active and engaged learning. Sharon often shares her theory: “Six Trumps: The Brain Science That Makes Training Stick.” I thought it would be appropriate to run a short mini-series of posts on activities and ideas for each of the “trumps” so that you can consider incorporating and/or increasing all six areas of learning into your classes for better retention. Today we cover "movement trumps sitting."

One of the valuable benefits for Lamaze International members is a subscription to Lamaze International's official journal - The Journal of Perinatal Education (JPE). The mission of the JPE is to promote, support, and protect natural, safe, and healthy birth through education and advocacy. The journal publishes peer-reviewed articles and evidence-based, practical resources that childbirth educators and other healthcare professionals can use to enhance the quality and effectiveness of their care or teaching to prepare expectant parents for birth.

Through evidence-based articles, the JPE advances the knowledge of aspiring and seasoned educators in any setting-independent or private practice, community, hospital, nursing or midwifery school-and informs educators and other healthcare professionals on research that will improve their practice and their efforts to support natural, safe, and healthy birth.

As one of the largest Federal block grant programs, Title V (verbally called “Title 5”) is a key source of support for promoting and improving the health of the nation’s parents and children. The Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Services Block Grant Program is a federal/state partnership, authorized under Title V of the Social Security Act to ensure the health and well-being of women, mothers, infants, children (including children with special health care needs), adolescents and their families. Originally authorized in 1935, Title V is the oldest public health program in our nation.

This month's Brilliant Activities for Birth Educators idea is written by the creative Stacie Bingham, who often contributes such fun activities. Stacie is so effective at making information both fun and memorable! Today's idea is a riff on birth choice cards or a birth plan activity that covers variations and interventions in labor very well.

About the Blog Manager

Sharon Muza, BS, LCCE, FACCE, CD/BDT(DONA), CLE has been an active perinatal professional since 2004, teaching Lamaze classes to thousands of families and doula-ing through her private practice in Seattle, WA. Sharon is also a trainer of new birth doulas and childbirth educators. She blogs professionally on perinatal topics. Sharon enjoys facilitating discussion around best practice, current research and its practical application to maternal infant health and community standards. To learn more about Sharon, you are invited to visit her website, SharonMuza.com.